Walks around Dane End

Below are some pictures taken around Dane End, the small village in Hertfordshire where we are now living. It's a tiny village, 1 pub and a shop, and no mobile phone service! These views are taken just over the back of our house where we walk each evening. Most of the fields are crops with only a few cows around.

Walton Lodge Boat Trip

After only a few weeks working for Walton Lodge Vets we were lucky enough to be taken aboard "Walton Lodge" a magnificent motor cruiser. We left from the dock in Kent and cruised into London to dock at St Katherine's, next to Tower Bridge in the centre of London. It was an amazing experience to cruise up the River Thames to London aboard a 5 star hotel!

Skipper Downy taking control:

The magnificent vessel - docked in London. Onboard there are 4 bedrooms, 2 with ensuites, a dining and living area, dishwasher, plasma tv .........

Helen getting ready to dock in London as we approach Tower Bridge. The weather wasn't great on the first day, but after an overnight stay and dinner at a floating chinese restaurant we awoke to a lovely sunny day. We spent the Sunday lazing around on the yacht and lapping up the luxury.

More of the snow in April

The fields next to Ben & Corinne's house, Hunningham church.

Ewe with her lambs in the snow:

Weekend In Warwickshire

We went to the British SJ Championships at the NEC in Birmingham. It was fun for me but a bit boring for Downy. We also saw indoor polo, cross country and scurry racing.

Indoor Polo -

We stayed with Ben & Corinne in Hunningham, Warwickshire, which is a gorgeous little village. They live in a converted barn on a farm - has to be the best locum accommodation in the UK. On Sunday morning we woke up to snow everywhere, more than a sprinkling, everything was totally covered and so pretty. So freezing temps and snow in April, the weather has gone mad.

Sheep in the field near their house, little black lamb in the middle:

Bruges

During our stay in Belgium we went to Bruges for the day. Bruges (or Brugge) is an ancient medieval town 1hr from Brussels, towards the French border. It Bruges they speak Flemish (Dutch) whereas in Brussels most people speak French. It was a rainy day but we still enjoyed strolling around the streets and canals.

The main square

We did a canal boat tour which was great, from the canals you can see all the gorgeous old buildings on the water. Our tour guide sounded like he had learnt English from a computer!

We climbed the 360 steps to the top of the Belfry where a man was playing the bells by hand, it was really interesting and they play familiar tunes and have concerts of bell playing!

Brussels

Last weekend we had a 3 day break in Belgium. We stayed in Brussels for 3 nights and saw most of Brussels and Bruges. We indulged in lots of local food including waffles (below), mussels, Flemish stew and Belgian beers.

St Michael's Cathedral, the only sunny day we have enjoyed for about a month

Below is part of one of the main buildings in the Grand Place - a huge square in the centre of Brussels. There are shops and restaurants around the edge and would be great in summer. We went to a restaurant here which was in a 17th century cellar and we both had Flemish stew!

New York

Pictures L-R: view from the Empire State Building at night, Sculpture from the WTC foyer now burnt and damaged, Statue of Liberty, M&Ms world, Central Park, missing person tiles placed after 9/11, Wicked on Broadway,